


in between

by brevity



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: F/M, general saccharine stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-31
Packaged: 2018-03-03 05:23:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2839553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brevity/pseuds/brevity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>She nestles into his chest and grumbles, “If you break your promise and die out there, I’ll kill you, understand? I’ll have you train me in dark magic specifically so that I can raise you from the dead and kick your stupid block off.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>A series of brief vignettes featuring the times between Henry and Lissa's A and S rank support conversations.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It’s pretty tough to miss Henry’s tent in the Shepherds camp, even by the dim light of guttering torchfire. The fabric doorway is clumsily embroidered with an eye motif, and there are always a handful of crows scuffling around in the dirt outside.

Lissa tries not to drag her feet as she makes her way there. It’s late enough that everyone in the camp should be dead asleep - _barring myself_ , she complains internally - but if Chrom somehow heard about this, she’d never live it down.

She’s barely through the tent flap when he turns around from his battered folding desk in the tiny, cramped space.

“Hey there, you! Trouble sleeping?”

Lissa groans and rubs her eyes; his voice is entirely too chipper for this time of night.

“Yes, but shouldn’t you be trying to get some rest, too? You never know when there might be trouble, mister dark wizard,” she scolds, half-smiling.

“Don’t you worry about me!" he laughs. "Nothin’ gets me bright and ready like the promise of some bad guys to incinerate, lemme tell ya. I’m just finishing up this book Sumia lent me, it’s pretty gruesome! But enough chit-chat from me, are you here for one of Henry’s patented sleepytime curses?”

He’s already scribbling out some runes on the table, finger dipped in an inkwell and scrawling the requisite symbols, one hand trying to scoop an unwary crow off the ground for the sacrifice, before Lissa realizes what’s happening and closes the gap to smack him on the back of the head.

“No, you big idiot! I already told you, no more curses!” She sheepishly claps her hands to her mouth much too late, as the crows scatter out of the room, one wiggling out of Henry’s grip. _Oh, crud, I hope nobody heard that._

“Sorry, sorry! You looked pretty desperate there, you know. The circles under your eyes are so big you look like a raccoon, and your hair is all over the place! Hehe, no offense,” Henry quickly backpedals as he sees her hand going up for another smack.

“Well, if that’s the case, what can I do for ya?” He picks up the book he had set down earlier and points it at her. “I could read you a bedtime story, but somehow I think a grisly murder mystery isn’t gonna help you out that much, nya ha.”

“Well, u-um,” Lissa stammers, “I was wondering if it’d be alright with you if I slept over? Uh, I hope that’s not weird or anything, but you did make a nice pillow the last time I dozed off.” She forces out a sheepish smile, internally flinching at the awkward silence she anticipates.

“Not a problem at all!” Henry’s already tidying up the desk and making the bed and Lissa’s torn between an inexplicably overwhelming surge of relief and an odd discomfiting feeling - _it shouldn’t be this easy, should it?_ \- “the book will still be there tomorrow, and I guess you’re right, it’s a bit past time for me to be taking a snooze, too.”

 

In a blink, the bed is made and looking particularly inviting,  Henry already tucked in with the covers pulled up to his nose, face-splitting grin somehow peeking through. It’s awfully impersonal, serviceable plain sheets with a few black feathers strewn about here and there, honestly more a cot than anything. _This is a war camp, after all_ , Lissa remembers, guiltily thinking about her pegasus-down covers and small mountain of plush creatures, stubbornly amassed despite Chrom’s vehement protests.

 _So what on earth am I doing here?_  

“Whatcha staring into space for, Lissa? Are you too tired to make it to bed? I’ll come and pick you up if I have to, but I’m already pretty cozy, heh.” Henry’s sitting up now, eyeing her with concern? Curiosity? She can’t tell, but she snaps out of her daze and makes her way to bed.

She slips under the covers next to him, and flinches when she feels how cold he is. “Gods, Henry! You feel like a corpse!”

He laughs a bit at this, and she can feel the covers shift with him ever so slightly. “Don’t worry, with you here I’m sure I’ll warm up soon enough. Wouldn’t want you to have nightmares about sleeping in the same bed as a Risen, nyahaha!”

She giggles, all the tension and anxieties pounding in her brain draining away like magic, and curls up a little closer to him. Just for the moment, the world is alright, there’s nothing to worry about, and she lets herself drift off to sleep. Half-awake, she pulls him in tight, arms around his neck, legs hooked together, blearily thinking _oh, I hope he doesn’t mind._  

 _Tomorrow's troubles can sort themselves out, and even if it's just right now, everything is just fine_. She closes her eyes and falls asleep in his arms.

It feels like home.


	2. Chapter 2

Henry’s not a light sleeper. Each Shepherd’s had their turn in the morning screaming into his ear or dragging him out of bed, stock still and completely dead to the world, yet somehow when the camp falls victim to a Plegian ambush, he’s up before everyone else, slinging lightning and cackling with glee.

Maybe it’s the same sense that wakes him up in the middle of the night, Lissa curled up next to him tighter than an overwound spring. She’s shaking so much the bed shakes with her, stuttered gasping and half-sobs. He lies there, staring blankly for nearly five seconds, his grin nearly fading.

There's an actual expression of fear and uncertainty behind the smile. He doesn't have a clue what to do here. _  
_

Nevertheless, he scoops her up, light enough even his spindly arms can heft her, and pulls her in, patting her back uncertainly.

“Lissa? Are you alright? You don’t have to worry, it’s just a bad dream…”

 

After a couple more minutes of hesitant back patting and shoulder rubs, Lissa’s breathing slows. It takes a while longer, but being held upright eventually wakes her, and she sniffles a bit and wipes her eyes, smearing her pajamas, thankfully far too dark for him to notice.

“S-sorry, Henry, I didn’t mean to wake you up… it was just a nightmare, that’s all. I’ll be okay, thank you."

Henry’s trademark smile returns – _is it tinged with relief? Maybe that’s wishful thinking_ – and he pulls her in tighter.

“You wanna talk about it? If it was just some dumb old dream, maybe some jokes about it would help you feel better, nya ha!”

Henry’s ruffling her hair, and she’d pout at him if it weren’t already ruined and she wasn’t so emotionally drained. She slumps her shoulders, some of the tension easing out, but the shock and fear of the nightmare is still there, so she sits there, staring, sweating ice.

“No, Henry, I don’t think jokes are going to help here,” she sniffs, “that dream felt way too real. It still does, Henry, it could happen for real and I’m still s-so scared!”

She buries her face in his shoulder, winding up for a second bout of tears, and he holds her, awkwardly attempting to console her. He’s obviously had no experience with this sort of thing – _patting her head like he would a frightened dog, for Naga’s sake_ – but the absurdity of it, the clumsiness and the sincerity behind it bring her back down.

 

“Is it the Risen?” he asks, an eyebrow raised quizzically, “I guess they can be pretty spooky, yeah, but if it makes you feel any better I could go out and massacre some for you! Like I always say, the best way to face your fears is to blow ‘em up, nyahahaha.”

Lissa picks herself up and pulls away from him, looks him dead in the eye, gently headbutts him, forehead-to-forehead, and sighs. The moment is slightly ruined by a tiny hiccup, but an eye-to-eye glare of unrivaled intensity manages to keep Henry from giggling.

“No, Henry,” she sighs, “it’s not exactly that. I-it’s just, we’re in a war, you know? I’ve already lost Emm, and all of us are always out there, fighting, and I’m so scared that I could lose you, or Chrom, or any of my friends!”

“Heh, I can’t help but notice you put me before Chrom,” Henry smirks, “should he be getting jealous? I promise I won’t tell him, ehehe.”

This time she actually headbutts him full force, knocking him flat on the bed, screaming in his face, “You gigantic _clod!_ You’re the one I’m scared of losing the most, because it seems like _every single battle_ we come out of there’s always a foot-long gash in your side or an arrow in your shoulder and you just _stand there, bleeding like a faucet and laughing to yourself like an idiot!_ ”

Henry’s expression sobers, and and after several moments’ thought, he mumbles, “I’m sorry. I hadn’t thought about how you’d feel if I was gone, to be honest. It’s weird, huh? Well, maybe not for you, but back when I was fighting for Plegia, sure, I had comrades, but nobody who’d cry for me when I’d die. I guess since I’ve got friends who’ll be down in the dumps if I bite it, I can’t plan on dying anytime soon, can I?” He grins apologetically and half-shrugs.

Lissa shifts uncomfortably, torn again from relief and comfort and satisfaction to _it can’t possibly be this easy, he’s saying exactly the right things and this is too perfect_ , and her ragged, still slightly exhausted brain, apparently not yet satisfied with the tumultuous emotional rollercoaster of tonight’s events, decides that the appropriate course of action here is to grab him by the front of his nightshirt and practically _growl,_ “You’ll have to forgive me if I don’t quite believe you, mister ‘I love bleeding let me joke about dying’ frigging morbid dark wizard, so here’s a little  _incentive_ to stay alive,” and mash her lips against his, almost as hard as the headbutt.

 _Oh, crud, oh crud I hope that was okay I hope I don’t regret this was that too weird_ –

– but he puts his arms around her, breaks the kiss, grins, “I promise, okay?” and somehow, somehow, everything’s alright.

She nestles into his chest and grumbles, “If you break your promise and die out there, I’ll kill you, understand? I’ll have you train me in dark magic specifically so that I can raise you from the dead and kick your stupid block off.”

He begins to laugh, she starts giggling with him, and for the moment, all is well, curled up beside each other, a little closer than before.

Lissa closes her eyes and smiles. No nightmares this time.

 


	3. Chapter 3

It’s a quiet day for the Shepherds, but even on a quiet day the mess tent is raucous with commotion and activity. Gaius and Cordelia are on dinner duty today, and not even Frederick can complain about the freshly-caught wild boar braised with honey and orange slices.

Everyone in attendance is nearly matching pace to Stahl’s continuous inhalation of food, but Lissa tidies away her plate, nice and proper like her sister taught her, and unceremoniously drags Henry away from his meal.

“Hey, I wasn’t done eating!” Henry pouts, his voice muffled by the handkerchief dabbing aggressively at his face, “I thought you cared about me! You wouldn’t want me to _starve_ , would you?” He affrontedly holds his stomach and makes a fake growling noise, causing Lissa to burst into giggles.

“Oh, shut up, you dummy,” Lissa laughs, “you can get back to your meal in a bit. I just wanted to get your attention while everyone was busy and distracted by food.”

The noise and clatter of the mess tent is still pervasive, so she looks around, a little furtively, and mutters, “U-uh, this isn’t private enough,” dragging him further away from the entrance of the mess tent. He follows along obediently, his only reaction an eyebrow raised in curiosity.

Eventually, when they’re far enough away from all the hustle and bustle, she sets him aside, stumbles, and loses her nerve.

“A-ah, um, argh, hang on,” she stutters, composure failing – _this isn’t even an embarrassing question why am I stuttering like this?_ – “w-well, I was thinking how when I stay over at your place for the night you have a pretty small bed and I roll around a lot and I was just wondering if it was okay with you if you came over to my tent instead since my bed is bigger and has more blankets and –”

“Ahaha, that’s fine with me! Are you sure that’s it?” Henry teases, “the way you were acting, I thought you were dragging me back here so you could kiss me, pfft.”

“Well I might have been _thinking_ about it but maybe I’ve changed my mind!” Lissa makes a face and sticks her tongue out at him, half-jokingly. “Just, uh, try to be a little sneaky about it, ‘kay? I’d die of embarrassment if Chrom found out, and I think Frederick might actually impale you without thinking.”

“Awww,” Henry complains, “I’m sure pretty much everyone in the Shepherds trusts me not to perform horrific forbidden sacrificial blood rites of the darkest magics using the Exalt’s younger sister as the ritual sacrifice, nyahaha.”

“I– ugh, I can’t actually tell if you’re being serious or not,” Lissa grumbles. “Whatever, just don’t get caught, okay?” She jabs him in the ribs with her index finger to end the sentence, driving home the point.

Henry gives her a wide grin and an affirmative thumbs-up, dashing away back to the meal he had left unattended as she shoos him away. Lissa dawdles for a moment, sitting on the grass and smiling to herself, feeling inexplicably warm.

Before she can doze off, she’s snapped out her daze by her brother’s hand on her shoulder.

“Oh? What is it, Chrom?” she turns to ask, slightly irritated by the interruption of a pleasant daydream.

Chrom fiddles with the corner of his cape uncertainly. “Erm, well, I saw you head out of the mess tent with Henry, and Maribelle told me that you had been hanging out with him a lot lately, and uh, she wanted me to check up on you, I guess. So, uh, I kind of followed you.”

“Wh-what? Don’t you know how to respect my privacy? Oh geez, Maribelle’s always trying to smother me, and now you too? Augh, I know she means well, but do you know how many friends she’s chased off from talking to me? Don’t pretend you didn’t see that umbrella-shaped bruise on Vaike’s face a few months ago,” fumes Lissa, absentmindedly shredding grass in her hands.

“And don’t think you’re any better, big brother!” Lissa grouses, smearing her grass-stained hands on his tabard. “Geez, Henry is a sweet guy but he’s just helping me with my insomnia,” – _ehehe, well, that’s technically true_ – “so you can poke your nosy snout out of my business, thank you very much!”

Chrom raises both of his hands placatingly, backing off. “Okay, okay, I get it. Just, uh, I want you to know, though, I’m alright with whatever you decide, okay? You’re old enough to make your own choices, and I’ll see if I can’t get Maribelle to ease off a little.”

Lissa watches her brother’s back as he leaves, slightly bewildered but reassured all the same. “Ah, um, thanks? … I guess?”

She sits there for a moment, mulling over the seemingly tacit approval Chrom offered to her, and shrugs it off. _Heh, I don’t need my brother’s go-through to do what I want._

After a few moments, Henry returns, done with his meal. “I saw Chrom headed away from here, did you have a talk with him?” he asks, wiping his face with his floppy sleeve.

“Ah, uhh, he was just concerned about us hanging out together so much, I guess? Psh! Nuts to him, I’ll hang out with you as much as I want!” Lissa sniffs exaggeratedly, pointing her nose up in the air in faux indignation.

Henry giggles to himself, barely keeping it in, “D-d’you, pfft, reckon that Chrom thinks, ahaha, that we’re, ehehehe, _inchrompatible_?”

“Maybe, hahaha, you just make him – _snrk_ – _unchromfortable_ ,” retorts Lissa, gasping for air.

They collapse onto the ground, howling, tears streaming down their faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter, I offer my deepest chromdolences.


End file.
